Martin Ferris
Question:2. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he agrees that a sale of Coillte harvesting rights is now unlikely to proceed. [21654/13]
View answerWednesday, 8 May 2013
Questions (2)
Oral answers (7 contributions)
This question refers to Coillte. I am somewhat limited in what I can say, apart from what I have said many times, which is that the Government made a decision last summer to look in some detail at the viability of the sale of timber harvesting rights currently owned by Coillte. That process has included my Department, NewERA, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the board of Coillte. There have been at least three if not four, valuations of that timber. Other considerations include issues relating to the Coillte pension fund, Coillte debt and the future viability of a company when an asset as significant as harvesting rights is removed. Another consideration is the public asset for which Coillte is responsible and how that may be affected in terms of public access to lands. Also, the broader timber industry relies predominantly on Coillte as almost a monopoly supplier. A total of 80% to 85% of all timber for the sawmills industry comes from Coillte forests. This was a very complex process of considering how we might take this forward and how the State might get value from this asset at a time when money needs to be raised.
Regardless of what other Ministers have said in this House, I wish to inform the Deputy that along with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, I will bring to Government a report on the process to date and a set of recommendations on which the Government will make a decision. I hope to do this in the next fortnight.
The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, stated last week that he believed any sale of Coillte harvesting rights is now unlikely. Will the Minister confirm whether this has been discussed at Cabinet level and if that is the view of the Cabinet? Alternatively, is the Minister stating that the Government may yet decide to sell off Coillte harvesting rights?
We have had a number of presentations over recent months. The joint committee also heard a presentation yesterday. The strong opinion of most informed people is that the sale of Coillte harvesting rights would be detrimental and the wrong decision.
The Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform must have that conversation because the issue overlaps both Departments. Does the Minister accept that selling off the most lucrative element of the harvesting rights is all that will be wanted by those who wish to buy those rights? In that case, the State will be left with what many people describe as the less lucrative parts.
Deputy Rabbitte said that the probability of agreeing to the immediate privatisation of Coillte looks more unlikely every day.
While that may be the outcome, I do not want to predetermine the result of Cabinet discussions. I have always said that we will protect the public asset Coillte manages in any sales process. Selling timber futures or harvesting rights is very similar to selling a crop early, which many farmers do. The State is investigating whether it makes sense from a financial and a strategic perspective to raise and spend the cash in the economy now. The process has been a very useful look at Coillte, its operations and the value of its timber. It has allowed me to put together a comprehensive report and set of recommendations for Government. I do not want to predetermine the outcome of discussions or what the decision will be. The Government said it would not rush into anything without doing all the due diligence. That is what we have done. We are virtually ready to make a decision, which is necessary. Regardless of what decision is made, continuing uncertainty about forestry rights and the future of Coillte is not helpful to the company or the timber industry more broadly. The Government must therefore make a decision soon, which it will.
I hope the Government will be true to what the Minister says and make a decision promptly. I hope also that the Government takes into account Mr. Peter Bacon's report on the sale of Coillte or its harvesting rights and the loss that would represent to the State. It would be folly for the Government to sell off public ownership of Irish timber rights to some multinational or foreign speculator when those harvesting rights could be utilised to develop the industry further. I hope the McCarthy report is not the driving force behind any Government decision when the Bacon report has it right.
The Bacon report is just one of a series of reports. My Department had an evaluation carried out on a pro bono basis by Deloitte quite some time ago, while NewERA has commissioned a number of reports on the valuation of harvesting rights, as has Coillte. Different people have different views. It is my job to bring a set of recommendations to the Government based on all the work that has been done, and I am more or less in a position to do so. The issue continues to result in uncertainty in Coillte and the timber industry generally and the Government must get on and make whatever decision it will. That is what we will do in the next couple of weeks, after which we will come to the House to debate and defend it.
When does the Minister expect to have the decision?
Within the next two to three weeks.